As they entered the third music room, Kyoya motioned towards the oil spill and Haruhi knew that he wanted her to clean it up before they received any guests for the day. She headed to the storage room and looked around for a mop and bucket.

"What are you doing Haruhi?"

"Hot soapy water to clean up the spill, what do you think I'm doing?" she asked in return.

"Wait a moment, I need to look something up." As he opened his laptop and started typing, Haruhi took the time to finish looking for cleaning supplies.

"Hmm, we already have the oil on the floor, therefore a mixture of vinegar, alcohol, and soapy water should do it." He printed off the recipe and handed it to Haruhi, who sighed.

"I'm not going to have time to get this before school starts." She said and Kyoya nodded in agreement.

"True. I'll have Tachibana bring us the supplies before club starts, in the meantime, try using a bit of soap and water for now. We'll have the rest of it just in case."

"Wait, we have home economics classes and a first aid kit." She was mumbling, but he instantly knew what she had in mind.

"I will go talk to the school nurses and you go talk to the home economics teachers." He suggested and she nodded. For the first time since they had met, they smiled at each other and neither could identify the feeling that created within them.

OHSHC

As Kyoya waited for Haruhi to leave the room, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Tachibana.

"Yes, Master Kyoya?" Tachibana's voice sounded as if he was in a vehicle and Kyoya asked him what he was doing.

"You said that you were expecting a slightly larger crowd today, due to the theme. I was picking up some extra supplies for you, sir."

Kyoya smiled at his driver's reply before he said, "I need you to pick up a few additional items. I have a feeling we're going to need them from now on."

Tachibana had stopped the car when the phone rang, and he pulled out a pen and his shopping list as Kyoya read off his requests. He frowned a bit when he heard exactly what his young master was demanding, but said nothing. Instead, he waited until Kyoya was finished before he asked, "Will there be anything else sir?"

Kyoya blinked and rubbed his eyes. As he did so, he slipped yet again on the oily mess and he hit his head on the stand that the vial had been on. Haruhi entered the room at the same time, her arms full of supplies.

"Senpai, I managed to get both the alcohol and the dish soap. They also gave me some sponges and a small - SENPAI!"

Tachibana had still been on the phone waiting for Kyoya's final reply and he turned the car around when he heard Haruhi's small scream.

"Who's there? What happened to Master Kyoya? Can you hear me?" Tachibana didn't believe in panicking, but he still wanted some reassurance that his master was okay.

"What?" Haruhi could hear the disjointed voice and followed it to the cell phone lying next to Kyoya's left arm.

"This is Tachibana, I'm Master Kyoya's bodyguard. Is my master all right?" Tachibana was speeding back to Ouran, as he waited for Haruhi to respond.

"Senpai, can you hear me?" Haruhi had calmed down, but there was still a sense of urgency in her voice.

"Miss, miss, can you hear me miss? This is Tachibana, what happened?"

Haruhi lightly touched Kyoya on the face. He moaned and turned his head towards her. She could see the lump near his temple and carefully brushed the hair away to make sure that he wasn't bleeding.

"Miss, please miss what is happening?"

"Senpai hit his head on the corner of a table. He's knocked himself out; I don't know how bad it is though."

Tachibana pulled up to the school and dashed out of the vehicle. He ran all the way up the stairs and into the music room. Haruhi looked up as he entered the room and motioned him away from the mess on the floor.

"Stop, there's an oil spill and it's really slippery. I think that's why he fell."

Tachibana silently nodded and he cautiously stepped forward. As he did, he watched as Haruhi quietly stood up and backed away from the boy on the floor. Tachibana kneeled down and took Kyoya's pulse; he smiled as the teenager tried to smack his hand away.

"I'm fine, just a bit winded." Kyoya winced and opened his eyes. He felt around for his glasses and Tachibana handed them to him. The two men exchanged silent glances. Tachibana asking if Kyoya really was okay and Kyoya glaring back that he was fine and to help Haruhi.

Tachibana sighed as he helped his master sit on the couch. Haruhi came back to them with a cold pack in her hands. Tachibana looked up at her and smiled his thanks. Kyoya just groaned as he applied the ice to his temple.

"Haruhi, I don't need to remind you that we need to get this cleaned up before anyone else slips and falls."

Haruhi shook her head at him as she picked up the bags she'd dropped when he'd fallen. Tachibana put a hand on her arm, silently asking if she was okay and she smiled at him as she nodded. Tachibana glared at Kyoya who had his eyes shut, silently willing his master to look at him.

Kyoya motioned the bodyguard closer and lightly tapped him on the forehead. "Pick me up a clean uniform; I don't have first period today so you have time to make it home and back. Once you've done that, finish picking up the items on that list I gave you."

"Please." Haruhi stated as she walked closer to the couch.

"What?" Kyoya's head throbbed and he shut his eyes again.

"Please and thank you." Haruhi said again and gave Tachibana a smile. "Please pick up those items for him, thank you." She handed Tachibana a small piece of paper with a small list of supplies. Please and thank you, she mouthed silently and Tachibana gave her a bow as he stepped out of the room.

"People respond better when you say please and thank you." She said quietly. He didn't respond, but then again she hadn't expected him to. "I'll apologize now, but I need the lights to be a bit brighter so I can see what I'm doing. I don't want anyone else to slip and fall."

Kyoya lifted his arm up and placed it over his eyes. He could still hear Haruhi cleaning the floor; she was definitely quieter about it than the twins or Tamaki would have been and he drifted into a light doze.

Tachibana ran out to the limousine, called in the orders from both teenagers and then drove to the Ootori mansion. He knew that somehow Haruhi had to be that little girl he remembered from all those years ago. He just had to figure out why she didn't recognize Kyoya, or even Tachibana himself.

He had been just starting his position with the Ootori's at that time, but those few months that summer had been some of the brightest and best moments of his young master's life. He had been summoned by Mrs. Ootori to guard her youngest son while he went out to play with other kids. Tachibana later discovered that Kyoya had no friends until the day they'd met a brown haired little girl and her mother playing on the swings at a park near one of the Ootori's newest hospitals.

Tachibana had almost had to drag Kyoya out of the limousine that first day, but once the first introductions were made the two children had gotten along like a proverbial house on fire. Tachibana remembered talking to the mother, Kotoko, but he didn't think the woman had said her last name was Fujioka. He racked his brain trying to think of what she'd told him. She'd been a lawyer and had recently quit due to health reasons. Her husband had started working nights in order to help keep their bills down. Haruhi hadn't known or cared that Kyoya was part of the famous Ootori Group, she had only wanted a friend to play with while her mom was visiting the hospital.

Tachibana could recall the day that they'd last seen Haruhi. It had been cloudy and overcast, threatening to rain, and yet the two children had met at the park. Kotoko had not been present, which had seemed odd to Tachibana, but he had shrugged it off as insignificant at the time. He and Kotoko had chatted several times prior to that day and she'd seemed to get weaker with every visit. He'd told her that if she ever needed him to he could keep an eye on the children while they played and since it was a set time, for Kyoya at least, he would protect Haruhi as well. So he'd surmised at the time that Kotoko had taken him up on his offer to watch her child.

It hadn't occurred to him until several weeks later that something bad might have happened. He'd driven Kyoya to the park as usual, but Haruhi hadn't been there. After several months of no playmate, Kyoya had withdrawn into himself again and stayed that way until Tamaki Suoh darkened his doorstep.

Tachibana shook off the remnants of the past and headed directly to Kyoya's room. Once there he pulled out a clean uniform and shoes. As he passed by the desk a small glint on the floor caught his eye. He bent down and picked up the necklace with the charm on it. A childish voice swept through his mind and he remembered the girl's sad brown eyes as she'd stated to his master, "You're my Shadow King, Kyoya."

Tachibana's fist tightened around the necklace as he ran back out to the car.

Haruhi found some wet floor signs and placed them in strategic places, just in case Tachibana or anyone else wandered in while she cleaned up the spill. She'd seen Kyoya open his eyes a couple of times, wince in pain and then shut them just as quickly. She finished wiping up the oil, then scrubbed the entire floor, all the while she kept an eye on her enigmatic senpai.

Haruhi had to admit that the boy intrigued her in a way that few members of the opposite sex did. For one, he was intelligent and not afraid to admit it. Then the added factors of dark-haired, tall, and a fairly well developed body made for a well rounded individual.

"Just too bad that he's rich," she muttered.

She almost jumped ten feet in the air when the object of her observation sleepily asked "What's wrong with being rich?" Unfocused deep gray eyes blinked at her owlishly as he tried to find his glasses. Haruhi handed them to him then backed away, almost tripping over the mop bucket as she did so.

She put the cleaning supplies away and came back out with a glass of water and some aspirin. He took a drink of the water and slowly reached a hand up to his temple.

"Do you want me to have the nurse come look at it?" she asked, and he tried to shake his head no, but winced as he did so.

"No, all our staff are well trained in first aid procedures. Tachibana should be back here anytime. Speaking of which, why aren't you in class, honor student Fujioka?"

"I'm on my way, I just wanted to make sure you were alright before I left,Kyoya-senpai. Get some rest."

Haruhi left the room and headed down the stairs, just as Tachibana started ascending them.

"He woke up, but he still has a headache," she informed the concerned man as she ran for her class. She glanced behind her once to see Tachibana taking the stairs two at a time in his concern for Kyoya. As she watched him enter the room, she was struck by the thought that she'd seen the tall blonde man somewhere else recently. She shook her head and as she entered the classroom, bowed repeatedly and chanted how sorry she was for being late.